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England not keen on Rugby World Cup Cardiff switch

James Mortimer 05 Dec 2012 Getty Images

Rumours that arguably the marquee pool clash of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, a grudge match between host nation England and Wales, will be staged at Millennium Stadium, are not true according to Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive Ian Ritchie.

Ritchie has made it clear that England will be pushing hard to ensure that all of their home matches will be played in England, despite the real chance that Cardiff could pull off a massive coup.

Eight matches - including two quarterfinals - have been marked as potential matches for Cardiff, part of the Welsh Rugby Union support for the English bid for the Rugby World Cup.

With Wales and England drawn together, along with the Wallabies, in the so called pool of death, WRU chief executive Roger Lewis suggested that the nations’ key Pool A fixture could be staged at Millennium Stadium.

Lewis said it would be ideal that the game be played at 'the best rugby ground in the world'.

However Twickenham will continue to push its claim as the most state of the art ground in world rugby, undergoing a massive upgrade worth nearly 100 million pounds ahead of the Rugby World Cup, and Ritchie said the ground was suitable for the Test.

"We have a very nice home of our own and I would hope very much we would contemplate playing the match here,” Ritchie said.

"We equally believe we are very good hosts here and that we could hold a decent game and would very much want to do that.

"We will not get a better opportunity to inspire people to play rugby, be volunteers and participate in rugby. We are putting the building blocks in place to make sure we can take the most advantage of having the World Cup."